Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has written to the Senate requesting amendment to the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) 2016 Statutory Appropriation Act to extend its operational period to April 30, 2017.
The President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki, read the letter at plenary on Tuesday.
He quoted Mr. Osinbajo as saying: “I have the honour to seek Senate’s approval to extend the application of the Federal Capital Territory Administration 2016 Statutory Appropriation Act until April 30, 2017.
“It would be recalled that the 2016 FCT Appropriation was assented to on August 29, 2016, a fact that affected its implementation in respect of capital projects and other expenditure.
“In this connection, numerous payments for critical and essential projects are now outstanding.”
He acknowledged that though the Bill was assented to on August 29, 2016, with its termination date as December 31, 2016, but said that it needed beyond December, 2016 for full implementation.
“To meet its obligation and as permissible by the Constitution, the FCT 2016 Appropriation needs to be extended to April 30 to enable the FCT make payments for various critical and essential ongoing projects.
“This will ensure better performance in the implementation of projects for the 2016 statutory appropriation,’’ the vice president said.

Monday, 13 March 2017

After spending 50 days in London, for undisclosed health-related reasons, President Muhamamdu Buhari, has on Sunday night, informed Nigerians that his resumption to duty would not be dramatic, as he plans to stop attending outdoor Presidential functions, until he fully recuperates.
Buhari, who spoke through his Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media, Garba Shehu, stated this during an interview on Sunday, in Abuja, on Arise Television News Network
“Let me first of all caution that he (Buhari) is not going to start in a dramatic way. He has been away from the country for nearly two months, so he needs to get into the temperature of the place.
“For instance, yesterday he went through the newspapers page by page, and he read everything that interested him.
“So he needs to get back to that place. The thing is that he’s basically human like all of us. He is coming out of an ailment, and like he himself had said, he needs to start gradually.